Can tell us about yourself and your role at Made Media?

I’m the head of the design at Made, I’ve been studying design for 15+ years. I worked in digital back in the bad old days (shim gifs and tables), I spent some time working in print design and then returned to digital again as the web started to flourish.

What would you describe as a typical day in the office?

Nothing is typical at Made :) Currently we have three large projects in development and I have different levels of involvement in all of them. I also need to have an overview of what the rest of my team are working on. My morning is usually, coffee, emails, coffee, support and then one last cup of coffee. Other times throughout a project’s lifecycle I may be traveling to visit clients for discovery meetings, preparing for a site launch or making more coffee.

Who would play you in the film or your life?

Emilio Estevez, when I was younger. Someone less attractive nowadays.

What’s your favourite thing about working at Made? (If anything)

Seeing something from conception through to delivery. Presenting to clients and seeing them get excited and enthused about what we are doing. Leaving at the end of the day, exhausted. :)

What was the last play/film you went to see?

Hairy Ape at the Old Vic. Thoroughly enjoyable. Bertie Carvel was phenomenal.

What would you say are the main skills you need within your job role?

Listening to the client, listening to my team and listening to everything else that’s going on in the studio. Good design isn’t just about making something look beautiful, it’s about solving problems. I think one of the most important skills is understanding and interpreting what that problem is and then presenting the client with the most appropriate solution. If a client is on-board and feels that their input is being listened to they will invariably be a happy client.

What’s your favourite movie quote?

“Life is beautiful. Really, it is. Full of beauty and illusions. Life is great. Without it, you’d be dead.” — Solomon, Gummo, 1997. Harmony Korine

What made you want to pursue your chosen career path and job role?

As student I was very unsure as to what I wanted to do with my life in terms of a career. I knew I didn’t want to wear a suit, and I knew I wanted to do something I was passionate about. As someone who grew up riding a skateboard and listened to punk music I was hugely influenced by DIY culture, if you want something to happen, do it yourself. When I discovered the internet at college I found the possibilities mind-boggling and knew it was something I wanted to be a part of.

What’s your hidden talent or party trick?

Hidden talents… I’m in a band but that’s not really a secret. My left-eye makes a gross popping noise when I rub it. I thought I was the only person that could hear it but apparently not.

If a new person was to join us at Made Media what advice would you give them?

Always learn new things. You can’t work in digital and stop learning. Everyone makes mistakes, try to learn from them and never repeat them. Try to be organised. I’ve never been someone who finds this easy. But the harder you try the easier it gets.

I manage support at Made (i.e. broken stuff and small-ish improvements). I enjoy coloured pens, bossing people around and sitting down, so this job is perfect for me.

Tea or coffee?

Tea. Pantone 18-0935 TPX (Buckthorn Brown).

What would you describe as a typical day in the office?

A blur of nerdy jokes, coffee, client meetings, admin work and insisting that developers do their toil.

What’s your favourite thing about working at Made?

Our broad array of cacti.

What would you say are the main skills you need within your job role?

The ability to keep a lot of plates spinning at once, and deal with managing a task that’s never really done – just keeps chucking work at you.

Who would play you in the film or your life?

Jason Statham, only he can accurately portray my boundless energy.

What made you want to pursue your chosen career path and job role?

I worked in tech support for a while, and as much as I enjoyed restarting servers and laying cabling I thought it was time for a change. Turns out that Excel is my spirit animal and telling people what to do is the only thing that brings me true happiness, so it turned out well.

What office habit really annoys you?

Half empty mugs of coffee hidden in the most inaccessible places to form a skin.

What’s your hidden talent or party trick?

I can (and will) destroy you at Pokemon Trading Card Game.

If a new person was to join us at Made Media what advice would you give them?

Can tell us about yourself and your role at Made Media?

I’m Luke, 26 years old and am Head of Development Operations at Made Media. I went to Derby Uni and graduated with a BSc in computer networks.

Tea or Coffee?

Coffee. Black as midnight on a moonless night.

What would you describe as a typical day in the office?

The general things I have to do include management of infrastructure & DevOps staff, supporting & advising clients, assisting the developers with their needs and providing them with the platforms/infrastructure they require to perform their job effectively. Other tasks I do are things like refining infrastructure code, controlling deployment process and managing running costs for MM & Client infrastructure.

What’s your favourite thing about working at Made? (If anything)

Ping pong.

What would you say are the main skills you need within your job role?

I would say the main skills I need in my position is essentially a fundamental knowledge of computer networks, server infrastructure, cloud technology and unix, along with the understanding of how web applications function and why they work the way that they do. Additionally, problem solving abilities, being able to focus under high pressure situations, juggling & prioritising more than one ‘mission critical’ problem at the same time are a must. Now that I’m Head of Development Operations- being able to manage and motivate staff in the department is something that I’ve had to adapt to.